Two Day Hands- on Practice Online Workshop on "DietCal - A Tool for Dietary Assessment and Planning"
Date: 14 March, 2025
With an endeavour to provide students with practical exposure to innovative tools in foods and nutrition, a two-day hands-on practice virtual workshop on the Indian Nutrition Software “DietCal - A Tool for Dietary Assessment and Planning" was successfully organized by the Department of Foods and Nutrition, Government Home Science College, Chandigarh on March 13-14, 2025. The workshop was conducted as part of the curriculum for the subjects 'Computer Applications in Foods' and 'Diet Counselling and Computer Operations', ensuring that students gain essential technological proficiency for modern dietary assessment and planning.The chief speaker for the session was the developer and proprietor of the DietCal software, Dr.Gurdeep Kaur, Chief Dietician, AIIMS, New Delhi. The session commenced with an introduction to the software, outlining its key features and comprehensive capabilities. A detailed demonstration highlighted how DietCal can efficiently assist in dietary assessment and meal planning for individuals and groups. The session also emphasized its relevance in research by showcasing a list of users and publications by esteemed research teams who have validated and effectively used DietCal, thus proving its authenticity and reliability.
The workshop witnessed enthusiastic participation by 65 attendees, including students from M.Sc. Foods and Nutrition (2nd and 4th Semesters), Post Graduate Diploma in Nutrition and Dietetics, and Research Scholars. The interactive session allowed participants to explore various facets of the software and understand its practical applications in dietary counselling, patient handling, and nutrition analysis. The training also focused on how DietCal can enhance counselling skills and improve the functionality of a diet clinic by enabling students and professionals to create personalized meal plans, assess nutrient intake with precision, and monitor dietary compliance effectively.Principal of the college, Prof. Sudha Katyal, emphasized the significance of leveraging modern tools like DietCal to enhance nutrition education and research. She encouraged students to integrate such innovative technologies into their academic and professional pursuits to ensure evidence-based and efficient dietary planning in their future career.
